I sat down at the usual coffee place. I still had to close up the case and hear the verdict. No doubt it would come back not guilty on the counts of manslaughter and negligent homicide, though reckless burning of wildlands was still an issue.

I sipped the coffee and read the newspaper, something I hadn't read in a while.

"I'm surprised..."

I folded the paper and saw James Hamish sitting across from me.

"Who are you?"

I got the feeling that I knew him from somewhere.

"You don't remember, do you...?"

He looked disappointed, and I felt that I should know him from somewhere.

James grabbed my left arm and rolled up the sleeve, revealing a cigarette burn that I had almost forgotten about.

"You got this in high school. Don't you remember our detective cases?"

I looked at him and at the scar. They both seemed really familiar yet they were foreign. I looked down at a loss for words.

"James... I wish... I wish I could remember..."

"I thought you would... yet I knew..."

He looked at me and smiled.

"Well, I could always just tell you the old stories as I remember them," he said.

I looked at my watch and smiled.

"Half an hour today. I have to be in court soon."